Starting a cleaning service can be a great way to build a business that provides both a valuable service to others and a reliable source of income for yourself. However, as with any business, growing a cleaning service takes time, effort, and a lot of hard work.
In this blog post, we will be discussing some key strategies for growing your cleaning service, from building a strong customer base to expanding your service offerings. Whether you're just getting started or looking to take your cleaning service to the next level, these tips will help you achieve your goals.
One of the most important things to focus on when trying to grow your cleaning service is building a strong customer base. This can be achieved through a variety of different tactics, such as networking, advertising, and offering exceptional customer service.
Additionally, it is important to focus on expanding your service offerings and differentiating yourself from your competitors. This can be done by offering specialized cleaning services, like green cleaning or deep cleaning, or by developing a unique marketing strategy that sets your business apart from others in the industry.
With the right approach, you can take your cleaning service to new heights and achieve long-term success.
Let's jump right in!
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Make a website
There are lots of ways to go about this. Obviously, you can do it yourself or hire someone to build a website for you.
Here are some popular options:
Hire help
Do it yourself
The good thing about janitorial is that you don’t need a complex website.
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Make an announcement on your personal social media that you have/started a cleaning service.
This is one of the simplest ways to get some attention to your new business.
A new thing to do is to build your business in public. People love to see things being built and getting updates.
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Make a Google My Business
Here is a pretty detailed post on how to setup and use Goole My Business.
This video is also really helpful.
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Add your business to your city’s Chamber of commerce
Just google your state’s chamber of commerce and go through the steps to add your business. Pretty easy.
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Create/Claim your business on Manta
Manta may seem redundent now a days due to things like Google My Business. But it still has a benefit or two.
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Its free
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If you don’t have a website yet Manta is a legitimate online space to list basic business information.
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If you do have a website adding your information will provide you with a backlink which is good for SEO.
You can find a how to guide on Manta here
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Add your business to Yellow pages website
Sure most people don't use YP anymore but...
1. It's free.
2. Adding your information will provide you with a backlink which is good for SEO.
Getting a steady flow of new leads is all about compounding.
You can find a how-to guide on YP here. -
Put a listing in the phone book.
Most people don’t use the phone book but getting a steady flow of new leads is all about compounding.
You might only get 1 phone call a year from doing this but that’s 1 opportunity you would not have gotten otherwise.
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Make a Facebook business page
Your Facebook business page shouldn't replace your company website.
It should be an extension of it.
Your business page should contain all the same company information as your website and then some.
Use your Facebook business page as another way to connect to current customers and find new leads.
Be sure to post pictures from past jobs and display positive reviews.
This tutorial will get your Facebook business page up and running.
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Sign up as a vendor to your state’s procurement.
Some states have a ton of cleaning contracts up for grabs and some have little to none.
Just google your state’s procurement site and follow the necessary steps.
The only potential con to state contracts is the lowest bidder usually wins the contract and the facility is not in the best shape. They are great opportunities for newbies though. From the research I did for CleanWork, most states don’t require references for you to bid.
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Put an ad in the newspaper.
This simple task could lead to a few contracts. I have seen a lot of cleaning RFPs in the newspaper so maybe these same people read the newspaper.
The cost of a newspaper ad depends on the newspaper's location and circulation size, as well as the color, frequency, and day of the week your ad is published.
Ex:
The local paper may charge $12 per inch for a black-and-white ad, so a 4-inch by 10-inch ad would cost $480.
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Make flyers/postcards and send them to businesses.
Business cards, flyers, and postcards are a representation of your business.
A really nice business card can help make a great first impression.
You could use sites like Canva, Vistaprint, and Moo to create some really nice business cards, flyers, or postcards at a great price to pass out to businesses.
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Make a Twitter for your business
I’ve noticed a lot of cleaning services have Twitter but use it to post little to nothing and what they do post isn’t helpful or engaging.
My suggestion would be to post as often as you post on your other social accounts, even if it’s the same information, and to try and engage with potential customers. If Twitter isn’t your thing just make one and add a nice logo, a banner, and a link to your website.
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Make an Instagram for your business
Since Instagram is all pictures it would be a great growth loop to add to your marketing tools.
Adding pictures of past work with some information, then tagging that company (if they have an Instagram) will get them to like it (co-signing your work). Once you do this a couple of times and people start looking at your account this will give them the push they need to ask for a quote.
Good reviews are always worth asking for because they can turn into more work without doing any marketing.
Do good work. Get a good review. Sell that story infinitely
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Cold call potential clients.
If you want to reach potential clients and figure out if they sub out the cleaning of their facility quickly, cold calling is the way to go.
While you're reaching out to potential clients make sure you use the GRRRR Method:
💻(G) google your target demographic and make a list of potential clients.
📞(R) reach out to each one (cold call).
🤓(R) research each one.
🧠(R) remember to keep the results to each cold call so they can either be kept on your list of potential clients or removed. You can use CleanWork for this.
🔄(R) repeat this for each potential client until you go through your whole list.
You can check out the detailed version of the GRRRR Method and get a sample cold-calling script 👉 here.
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Contact potential clients via LinkedIn
A ton of commercial cleaners don’t have a LinkedIn and if they do they don’t use it to reach out to potential clients.
This means there's a large window of opportunity for you to reach the people you want to clean for with little to no competition.
With CleanWork you can find contact information for decision makers near you. This contact information includes their LinkedIn. Once you get to their LinkedIn, message them if possible or connect and add a note. Keep it short and sweet. Your first goal is to have them connect with you. Your second goal is to see if they need your services. -
Do walk-ins on potential businesses
Sounds simple but most people won’t do this.
Like cold calling, it’s a cold introduction that you are going to have to navigate with speed, professionalism, and nosiness.
Speed
You don’t want to waste this potential client’s time or yours so be nice but straight to the point.
Professionalism
If you have attire with your business’s name on it, wear it.
If you have any business cards or flyers, bring them.
You want to look the part of a professional cleaning service and leave something they can have to remember you.
Nosiness
When you're doing your walk-in you want to get the answer to two questions.
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Do they sub out their cleaning?
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When will the current contract be up?
Once you have this information. Add them to the yes or no list and head to the next one.
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Gather reviews from happy clients and display them.
Any good feedback you get from customers should be turned in to some type of online review that you can then display on social media or your business’s website.
The more visible positive feedback potential customers see the more likely they will become paying customers.
This is called social proof.
You should use this as often as possible.
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Learn from your competitors.
Learning from them doesn’t mean copying them. There’s a difference.There are different aspects of your competitor’s business that you could learn from.-
Company Culture
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Social Media
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Customer Engagement
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Search
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Online Marketing
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Content
Ex: SearchCheck out a competitor’s website. You should notice certain keywords being used over and over throughout.Make a list of those words then head over to Google and use them to see if they rank higher than your company’s website. If so, add them to your website. -
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Reach out to unhappy customers of your competitors.
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Keep track of current, past, and future cleaning contracts Keeping track of when opportunities are coming up is one of the easiest ways to get more business. Even if you lose a bid for a facility, keep the contact information of the decision-maker as well as the length of the contract. Then reach out when it is close to coming up for bid again.
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Keep track of potential clients that say they aren't looking for a new service.
Again you can use a piece of paper and a pencil to keep track of these potential customers.
Or you could use CleanWork’s Lead list and Follow Up Flows to stay on top of potential clients on autopilot
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Add your business to yelp.
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Create a Yahoo business profile.
This guide will show you how.
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Ask for referrals from current customers or businesses you work with.
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Sign up with your city and county procurement offices.
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Collect business cards and add the emails on them to your email marketing list.
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Infiltrate the circles you want to be in
You can do this with LinkedIn and supercharge this method with CleanWork. Let’s say you want to work with STR (Short Term Rental) companies in your market. Yes, you’ll want to reach out to all of them to see if there are any opportunities to handle the cleaning but another way to go about this would be to connect with all the decision-makers for those companies on LinkedIn. Then you can speak with them, get to know them, and pitch them your services. As you connect with more and more it has a snowball effect. The ones you haven’t connected with will start to reach out to you to connect because they see you're a well-known figure in their industry. You can supercharge this method with CleanWork by creating a lead list, using the decision maker search to find contact info (phone, email, LinkedIn) for decision-makers near you, then going to LinkedIn’s sync your contacts page and connect through email using the emails you got from CleanWork.
- Get on the list of bidders for construction companies
- Partner with other service providers:
Partner with local businesses that complement your services, such as carpet cleaning or restoration companies.
- Offer free estimates
Offer free estimates to potential clients to help them understand the cost of your services and how they can benefit from them.
- Offer Green cleaning Offering environmentally friendly cleaning methods and products can attract eco-conscious customers.
- Community Outreach
Volunteer your cleaning services for community events, school fundraisers or non-profit organizations to increase your visibility and build goodwill in the community.
- Promote your services on online classifieds and listing sites
- Use flyers and brochures to promote your services in local communities
- Attend local trade shows and events
- Offer loyalty programs to retain customers
- Offer specialized cleaning services such as deep cleaning, move-in/move-out cleaning
- Partner with local charities and non-profit organizations
- Use local SEO techniques to increase visibility on search engines
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Sign up to CleanWork. CleanWork is a web app where you can find upcoming opportunities posted by me or other users as well as find the contact info for decision makers near you and reach out to them on autopilot or manually through CleanWork.👇
